I saw a front-page news item in my local paper which caught my attention today. It seems that our State Government has rejected Microsoft software in favour of Linux and FOSS. It was quite heartening to see a government official espouse FOSS and mention the advantages in terms of costs as well as freedom in using a FOSS system.

It was also amusing to see that Microsoft had quoted Rs. 7000 as the price of the OS, while the govt official had said Rs. 500. And then he had explained to the MS official that he could get an entire OS along with the productivity tools for just Rs. 300 and that too pay only for the media costs.

Red Hat and SUSE Linux were mentioned for server and desktop systems respectively.

Highly heartening to see a state government come out in favour of Linux and FOSS... in a country which has been dominated by MS for quite a while now.

I cannot find an online link to an article though as it was published in my local daily.

maybe we could have an advocate forum? to grow our list of good news

let the discussions begin

http://mandriva.blogspot.com/2007/01...t-door-on.html

here is the link
http://mandriva.blogspot.com/2007/01...t-door-on.html

oops newb alert, i didnt notice this thread prior to posting mine http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...d.php?t=516129

its a significant step for linux, i trust india will go ahead as planned.

i dont see ms gaining any respect for there tactics

Additionally, the government in Kerala has done the same. Apparently RMS visits Kerala every time BillG visits New Delhi.

Also GOA.

But Microsoft is fighting hard. Right upto the central ministry. Also, special starter pack (rates), reviving MS-WORKS for free, sponsoring education tie ups etc.

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